Australia and New Zealand will host the 2023 Women’s World Cup, Fifa has announced.
The joint bid got the nod ahead of Colombia, which was the only other rival in the running after Brazil and Japan dropped out of the race earlier in June.
The 2023 version will be the first in the women’s game to feature 32 sides – up from the current 24.
The competition is scheduled to take place from July to August 2023.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino said: “The bidding process was highly competitive. We would like to thank both of the bidders for their remarkable work. It was really, really well prepared.”
The Italian also announced a funding boost for the sport.
“We have decided to award $1bn (£805m) to the development of women’s football in the coming four years,” he said.
“We experienced last year in France a fantastic Women’s World Cup. It broke all records. It brought women’s football to a truly global stage.”
Australia and New Zealand’s joint bid
The joint bid from Australia and New Zealand promised “an unprecedented level of investment” in the tournament.
This will be the first World Cup hosted across two of football’s continental confederations (Australia is in the Asia confederation, while New Zealand are part of Oceania).
They have proposed to stage matches at up to eight grounds in Australia:
- Stadium Australia, Sydney (the final), capacity: 70,000
- Sydney Football Stadium, capacity: 42,512
- Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, capacity: 30,052
- Brisbane Stadium, capacity: 52,263
- Perth Rectangular Stadium, capacity: 22,225
- Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide, capacity: 18,435
- Newcastle Stadium, capacity: 25,945
- York Park, Launceston, Tasmania, capacity: 22,065
And five stadiums in New Zealand:
- Eden Park, Auckland (opening game), capacity: 48,276
- Wellington Stadium, capacity: 39,000
- Christchurch Stadium, capacity: 22,556
- Waikato Stadium, Hamilton, capacity: 25,111
- Dunedin Stadium, capacity: 28,744
Article courtesy of BBC Sport
Source link
